64 OPHIDIANS. 
the color and lustre of the head bearing such a close resem- 
blance to a surface of polished copper, as the name indicates. 
N. Exaps CoraAuinus, Vipera corallina. Spanish, Coral ; 
French, Serpent corail. 
Coral Snake. 
The Coral Snake is found in Mexico, Central America, and 
in all the lowlands of South America as far south as Southern 
Brazil, up to from 200 to 1000 metres above the level of the 
sea. | 
Of Ophidians it is the species possessed of the most brilliant 
colors, most harmoniously blended. By many persons it is con- 
sidered to be exceedingly venomous ; as many others, perhaps, 
do not believe that its bite produces fatal effects. This is un- 
doubtedly owing to those climatic conditions which contribute 
in such a marked degree to modify the virulence of animal 
poisons in the same genera and species. 
By reference to the tabular list of snakes in the different 
States of Colombia, it will be observed, where the climate 
varies from a torrid heat to the cold of a region of perpetual 
snow (14,000 to 18,000 feet above the level of the sea), the 
same species occupy different relative positions in different 
places, in accordance with the fact that the species are in- 
tended to occupy (in the table), each one its comparative 
position as regards the virulence of its poison, so far as it 
has been possible to institute a comparison between the dif- 
ferent species. 
Under these climatic conditions, the electro-magnetical 
states of the atmosphere exercise an important influence (as 
previously stated), modifying, in a remarkable degree, the 
effects of the poison in every species. : 
Thus, one may readily conclude that the same species may 
